Tajikistan: Measles Outbreak - Apr 2017

Glide: EP-2017-000047-TJK

Overview

The measles epidemic in Tajikistan started in April 2017 gradually spreading out of Rudaki district to the capital city of Dushanbe and the surrounding districts as well as Khatlon oblast. In mid-April 2017, 263 registered cases of measles were reported, out of which 157 were laboratory confirmed. Based on official data, by 1 May, the number of notified and investigated cases rose from 263 to 345, with 246 (71%) patients hospitalized. No deaths were reported so far.

The trend of sharp increase in new cases is expected to continue. Out of the 48 new cases recorded during week 16 (17-23 April 2017), 96 per cent were un-immunized. The proportion of affected adults in this outbreak is somewhat higher (16.7%) than during the previous outbreak in 2009 (10.5%). The total proportion of unvaccinated persons affected by the epidemic among the total population increased from 81.9% in week 15 to 84% in week 16. (IFRC, 15 May 2017)

WFP Tajikistan School Meals Recipe Book was named “Best in the World” at the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, held in Yantai, China, May 27-28.

WFP Tajikistan and the Committee of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense (CoES) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for collaboration in the area of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA).

A WFP mission from HQ and RBC held high-level meetings with government counterparts and UN agencies to illustrate the scope of the new WFP strategic plan and introduce the Integrated Road Map, which aims at supporting the government.

In response to a measles outbreak, Tajikistan initiated a mass measles vaccination campaign on 15 May 2017, targeting almost 2 million children aged 1–9 years in the country. The outbreak, which began in May 2016, has caused over 400 confirmed cases to date.

The measles epidemic in Tajikistan started in April 2017 gradually spreading out of Rudaki district to the capital city of Dushanbe and the surrounding districts as well as Khatlon oblast. In mid-April 2017, 263 registered cases of measles were reported, out of which 157 were laboratory confirmed. Based on official data, by 1 May, the number of notified and investigated cases rose from 263 to 345, with 246 (71%) patients hospitalized. No deaths were reported so far.